The Secretary-General is deeply concerned
about the recent exchange of military strikes
between Iran and Pakistan, the UN
spokesperson said.
Washington: The United Nations and the
United States appealed for restraint on
Thursday after Iran and Pakistan traded
deadly air strikes on militant targets on each
other's territory.
The rare military action across the porous
border between the heavily armed neighbours
has further stoked tensions already enflamed
by the Israel-Hamas war.
Pakistan's strikes against militant targets in
Iran early on Thursday came two days after
similar Iranian strikes on its territory, and
prompted Tehran to summon Islamabad's
envoy.
At least nine people were killed in the strikes
in restive Sistan-Baluchistan province, most of
them women or children, Iran's official IRNA
news agency reported.
They came after Iran carried out raids on what
it described as "terrorist" targets in Pakistan
on Tuesday, killing at least two children.
While Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan often
accuse each other of allowing militants to
operate from the other's territory, cross-border
operations by government forces have been
rare.
UN chief Antonio Guterres called on the two
governments to "exercise maximum restraint".
"The secretary general is deeply concerned
about the recent exchange of military strikes
between Iran and Pakistan, which have
reportedly caused casualties on both sides,"
his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
White House National Security Council
spokesman John Kirby said the United States
was monitoring the situation "very, very
closely" and was in touch with Pakistani
officials.
"These are two well-armed nations and again
we don't want to see an escalation," Kirby
told reporters.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew
Miller echoed his comments.
"We don't believe this should escalate in any
way, shape or form. Pakistan is a major non-
NATO ally of the United States, that will
remain the case, but we would urge restraint
in this case."
Kirby said he was "not aware" that Islamabad
had notified Washington before striking Iran.
He would not comment when asked if the
United States would provide support for
Pakistan.
Pakistan's foreign ministry described
Thursday's raids as a "series of highly
coordinated and specifically targeted precision
military strikes against terrorist hideouts" in
Sistan-Baluchistan.
The strikes took place at around 4:30 am
(0100 GMT), with three drones destroying four
houses in a village near the city of Saravan,
IRNA said, citing Alireza Marhamati, deputy
governor of the province.
Iranian media carried images showing severely
damaged homes, with one video showing
people gathered around a crater.
All of those killed were Pakistanis, and
investigations were under way to determine
why they were in the Iranian village,
Marhamati said.
The raids targeted Baluch separatists,
according to the Pakistani army. The military
has been waging a decades-long fight against
separatist groups in its sparsely populated
border region.
- 'Spiral of violence' -
Iran condemned the action, and summoned
Pakistan's charge d'affaires "to protest and
request an explanation from the Pakistani
government", foreign ministry spokesman
Nasser Kanani said.
The ministry described Pakistan's strikes as
"unbalanced and unacceptable", and said Iran
expects Pakistan "to adhere to its obligations
in preventing the establishment of bases and
armed terrorist groups in Pakistan".
Jihadist group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice)
has carried out repeated deadly attacks on
Iranian security forces in recent months, and
Tehran has long alleged that it operates out of
rear bases across the border.
Pakistan delivered a strong rebuke to Iran over
its strikes, recalling its ambassador from
Tehran and blocking Iran's envoy from
returning to Islamabad.
China offered to mediate between the
neighbours, both close economic partners of
Beijing.
The European Union expressed concern about
the "spiral of violence in the Middle East and
beyond".
- Restive province -
Rising Iran-Pakistan tensions add to multiple
crises in the region, with Israel waging a war
against Hamas in Gaza and Huthi rebels in
Yemen attacking commercial vessels in the
Red Sea.
Meanwhile Afghanistan -- which borders both
Iran and Pakistan, and is home to a small
Baluch minority -- said the violence between
its neighbours was "alarming" and urged them
to "exercise restraint".
On Thursday, Pakistan's foreign ministry said
Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar would cut
short his visit to the World Economic Forum in
Davos, Switzerland, "in view of the ongoing
developments".
Hours before the strike, Kakar had met Iran's
foreign minister on the sidelines of the forum
and posed for photographs.
Sistan-Baluchistan province is one of the few
mainly Sunni Muslim provinces in Shiite-
dominated Iran and has seen persistent unrest
involving cross-border drug-smuggling gangs
and rebels from the Baluchi ethnic minority as
well as jihadists.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/as-tensions-rise-in-middle-east-un-us-urge-maximum-restraint-by-iran-pakistan-4889347